1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to user interfaces for computer systems, and more particularly, to a user interface for system management applications.
2. Description of Related Art
Computer systems have become increasingly more complex as computers are used to perform more tasks in both the business and personal environments. Consequently, performance monitoring and system management of the computer systems has become more difficult, because the system interconnections, larger number of users, geographically diverse sources of data, and other items have made system management more complicated.
Further, each user of the system has different needs and desires for performance data presentation and system management data presentation. In conventional computer performance monitoring applications, the monitoring application generates a request for data, such as xe2x80x9cHow busy is the CPU?xe2x80x9d. This request is sent by the monitoring application to a data subsystem having such information via the network transport system. The data subsystem returns the information requested to the monitoring application which then processes the data as required. Typically, the data is presented in a standardized format.
The systems to be monitored often include complex computer networks that may include mainframes, minicomputers, workstations, etc. The information to be monitored continuously becomes more complicated so that there are enormous amounts of information to be analyzed. In order to reduce the amount of data to be reviewed by the system operators, some techniques have been developed to further filter the data before it is reviewed by the operator. One example is the display by exception technique once the data has been collected, wherein the internal logic of the system displays data to the operator in accordance with a predicate logic test. The data that has been retrieved is compared to a predetermined predicate or threshold level and is displayed to the operator if and only if the data exceeds the predicate or threshold.
As the computer network systems to be monitored grow in size and complexity, the data to be monitored and tested grows the same way. What are needed are improvements in the presentation of system management data and performance data to reduce the substantial computational time, and other overhead requirements, of conventional monitoring applications.
It can be seen, then, that there is a need in the art for a management system that can manage diverse data sources. It can also be seen, then, that there is a need in the art for a management system that can present data in different formats.
To overcome the limitations in the prior art described above, and to overcome other limitations that will become apparent upon reading and understanding the present specification, the present invention discloses a system for presenting performance and system management data on a computer monitor. The system comprises a network, one or more presentation views, a data server, and a controller. The network interconnects a plurality of computer systems. The presentation views are defined in a memory of one of the computer systems in the network, receive commands for collecting selected performance data on the presentation view""s associated computer system, and collect and present the selected performance data. The data server is executed by one of the computer systems in the network, generates requests for the selected performance data, and stores the collected selected performance data returned in response to the requests. The controller is executed by one of the computer systems in the network, translates the requests generated by the data server into the commands for the presentation views, transmits the commands to the presentation views, and forwards the collected performance data to the data server for storage.
The present invention allows for various data sources to be presented and compared within one window that is definable by the user, as opposed to multiple windows pre-defined by the authors of the System Management product(s). This allows users more flexible access to data, as well as better and more efficient use of computer resources.
These and various other advantages and features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed hereto and form a part hereof. However, for a better understanding of the invention, its advantages, and the objects obtained by its use, reference should be made to the drawings which form a further part hereof, and to the accompanying detailed description, in which there is illustrated and described specific examples of a method, apparatus, and article of manufacture in accordance with the invention.